PROCEDURE IN PLANNING ROTATIONS 329 



(c) The income to be derived. 



(d) The profitable distribution of labor. 



(e) The topography of the farm. 

 (/) Soil conditions. 



In stock farming, the feeding requirements determine hi a large 

 measure the kind and amount of crops to be grown; and this 

 must necessarily vary with different types of stock farming. 

 Besides growing the crops required for feed, most farmers grow 

 additional cash crops, such as wheat, barley, tobacco, sugar beets, 

 cabbage, etc. This usually complicates the general cropping plans. 

 Usually the growing of alfalfa also causes irregularities hi the rota- 

 tions. 1 Rotations on grain farms may be different than those on 

 stock farms; and the systems of cropping in truck farming are 

 quite unlike all others. Moreover, rotations in one section of 

 the country differ from those of another, because of dissimilar 

 crop adaptation. 



The income to be derived and the distribution of labor are of 

 special importance in determining rotations, especially in grain- 

 farming and in the growing of truck crops, since the object upper- 

 most in the mind of most farmers is not soil improvement, but the 

 making of money. These two endeavors, however, can be happily 

 combined. It is much easier to plan rotations and arrange fields 

 on land that is level or slightly rolling than on a hilly farm. Many 

 farms have hillsides which must necessarily be cropped in a 

 different manner than the more level portions in order to control 

 soil erosion. 



Soil conditions most frequently affect the rotations. For 

 example, many soils are strongly acid, which condition is unfavor- 

 able for certain crops (Chapter XIII) . Peat and muck soils, sands 

 and heavy clays require special attention with respect to cropping. 

 A field of depleted silt loam should not be included in rotation 

 plans designed for highly productive fields. 



Procedure in Planning Rotations. Rotations on many farms 

 can be planned and carried out with little or no difficulty. On 

 old farms, it is not always easy to establish fixed or definite rota- 

 tions. Usually it becomes necessary to reorganize the whole farm. 



1 When a farmer succeeds in getting a good field of alfalfa he usually 

 leaves it in alfalfa so long as it produces profitable crops. A rotation including 

 alfalfa is always longer and usually more irregular than a rotation in which 

 clover is grown as the principal legume. 



